vertebral column

Also known as backbone, spine, spinal column

bony structure found in vertebrates

AI overview

The vertebral column is the bony structure that runs down the center of your back in vertebrates like humans, made up of stacked bones called vertebrae. It protects your spinal cord, supports your body's weight, and allows you to bend and move.

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Wikidata facts

Image: Illu vertebral column.svg

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Commons category: Vertebral column
NCI Thesaurus ID: C0037949

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Article

The spinal column, also known as the vertebral column, spine or backbone, is the core part of the axial skeleton in vertebrates. The vertebral column is the defining and eponymous characteristic of the vertebrate. The spinal column is a segmented column of vertebrae that surrounds and protects the spinal cord. The vertebrae are separated by intervertebral discs in a series of cartilaginous joints. The dorsal portion of the spinal column houses the spinal canal, an elongated cavity formed by the alignment of the vertebral neural arches that encloses and protects the spinal cord, with spinal nerves exiting via the intervertebral foramina to innervate each body segment.

There are around 50,000 species of animals that have a vertebral column. The human spine is one of the most-studied examples, as the general structure of human vertebrae is fairly typical of that found in other mammals, reptiles, and birds. The shape of the vertebral body does, however, vary somewhat between different groups of living species.